Family has been missing for 66 years, now their car suddenly turns up
USA - It is a criminal case that has remained unsolved for 66 years . Two adults and their three children suddenly disappeared. Now the car has apparently been recovered from a river.
Parts of a Ford station wagon were pulled out of the Columbia River in the US state of Oregon on Friday. However, no human remains were found inside. During the salvage operation, the body came off during the lift and only the frame and wheels came out of the water.
Pete Hughes, a Hood River County sheriff's deputy, said the car was now being examined, according to the AP.
"Everything matches," he said. "It appears to be the color, make and model of the Martin vehicle."
Ken and Barbara Martin and their children Barbara, 14, Virginia, 13, and Sue, 11, were on a trip to the mountains to get a Christmas tree on Dec. 7, 1958. Their son, already 28 years old, was not with them.
But they never returned to their home in northeast Portland. Police speculated that the red and white station wagon may have crashed into a remote ravine or river.
Two bodies were found at the time
The AP reported at the time that five months after her disappearance, the body of her youngest daughter was found "floating in a Columbia River swamp".
Virginia Martin's body was discovered the next day about 40 kilometers upriver. The other family members were never found, but the search continued.
The vehicle was found earlier in the fall by Archer Mayo. The diver, who tries to solve criminal cases, searched the river for clues about the family for several years.
Mayo pinpointed the likely location and dove several times before finding the car upside down in about 50 feet of water, covered in mud, salmon guts, silt and mussel shells, Mayo's representative Ian Costello said.
The search for the family was a national news story at the time. There was also speculation about foul play. A $1,000 reward was offered for clues at the time.